Kissing It Better
by parma-violets
Summary: Syaoran finds out that history has a pretty persistent habit of repeating itself.


A/N: So, this is my first TRC one-shot (that I've uploaded, anyway). Nothing special, just a quick injection of fluff that we are all desperately in need of right now. I tried really hard to keep them in character, but I have no idea how successful I've been …

Disclaimer: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is not mine. So unless CLAMP comes along and gambles the rights to it in a poker game, I'm not the owner. I wouldn't be even if CLAMP did gamble the rights. I can't play poker.

Summary: After recalling an incident when, as children, Syaoran kissed Sakura's injured knee to make her feel better, Sakura oh-so-conveniently stumbles on one of their many journeys. And Syaoran finds out that history has a pretty persistent habit of repeating itself.

**Kissing It Better**

_"Syaoran!" a thirteen-year-old Sakura giggled, a pair of hands firmly clamped over her eyes. "Where are we going? Tell me!"_

_The boy smiled gently at the princess's bubbly enthusiasm, and replied, "We're nearly there, hime. Just wait a little longer."_

_Even though he couldn't see her, Syaoran could feel her pouting. "Sakura!"_

"_B-But hime …" he protested, like always._

"_Sa – ku – ra!" she insisted doggedly._

_Syaoran sighed. "Sakura." _

_She smiled beneath his hands._

"_Okay, we're here," he announced, bringing her to a stop and spinning her to face the right direction._

_Sakura laughed happily. "Can't I just see?" she asked. "I've been to your garden before; I know what it looks like!"_

_Syaoran grinned knowingly; Sakura was the only person who knew that he tended to the once-abandoned gardens on the outskirts of the ruins. But she hadn't seen the newest edition to his little sanctuary, and he wanted to surprise her._

"_Okay … you can look now."_

_He pulled back his hands, listening for the princess's gasp of delight. And she didn't disappoint._

_In front of her was a large cherry blossom tree – a Sakura tree – in full bloom. She danced over to it, clapping her hands in happiness as she admired it from every angle. Cherry blossoms, her namesake, were her favourite flower. He knew that._

_It was why he planted the tree._

_Syaoran closed his eyes for a split second, savouring the sound of the princess's laughter. What made it even more precious was that he was the reason for it. He'd gladly spend the rest of his life trying to make her happy, if she'd only keep laughing like that …_

_When he opened his eyes, Sakura had somehow managed to clamber up onto the lowest branch, despite her heavy dress._

_Syaoran frowned worriedly. "S-Sakura? I don't think that's a good idea …"_

_She brushed his protest aside, flashing him a beaming smile. "I'll be fine. It's fun!"_

_He watched anxiously as she continued to climb, knowing her brother would kill him if he could see her now. But what worried him more was the height Sakura was gradually reaching – she was a princess; he doubted she had that much experience in climbing trees, particularly in a dress like that._

_A minute later, his fear was realised – Sakura's foot slipped, sending her tumbling out of the tree with a shriek._

"_Hime!" Syaoran cried, hurrying to her._

_The fall had only been a few feet, but it was enough to shake up the princess, and take the skin off her knees. Syaoran immediately crouched beside her, a hesitant hand on her back as he helped her to sit up. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously._

_Sakura sniffed, her chin quivering as she fought back tears. "D-Daijoubu," she stammered, clutching one of her knees with her hands._

_Syaoran cast his eyes about worriedly, hating to see Sakura in any kind of pain. He searched desperately for something to distract her from her injury - and suddenly blurted out:_

"_You know, my father said if you kiss a cut, it'll make it feel better."_

_What had possessed him to say __that?_

_It was true that Fujitaka had mentioned it to him once, when he'd cut up his hand at the ruins. But why had he decided to mention something like that to the princess?_

_However, it had had the desired effect. Sakura was no longer looking at her scraped knees, but was fixing him with a watery gaze. "R-Really?" she asked shakily._

"_H-Hai," Syaoran muttered, avoiding her eyes._

_He felt rather than saw her slide closer._

"_Syaoran?" she began tentatively, "D-Do you think you could … maybe …"_

_She trailed off, but her meaning was as clear as crystal. Syaoran blushed furiously, cursing himself for getting into the situation in the first place. But one look at Sakura's tear-stained face, and Syaoran knew he couldn't refuse her. He couldn't refuse her anything._

_Cautiously, he bent down and briefly pressed his lips to her knee, to the skin just above the injury._

_When he looked up, his face burning bright red, Sakura was smiling again. "Arigatou!" she beamed. "It does feel better."_

"_Um … g-good," Syaoran stammered awkwardly. "Are you, uh … are you hurt anywhere else?"_

_The princess considered this question, before announcing, "I hit my head when I fell."_

_At this, Syaoran looked up at her forehead, and swallowed when he saw a reddish mark above her right eye._

_She didn't even have to ask this time. Syaoran leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently._

_He pulled away hurriedly, but Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it firmly. "Arigatou, Syaoran," she whispered, her breath a gentle kiss against his cheek._

"Watch your step!" Syaoran called after Fai and Kurogane as they set out into the forest. "The floor in this place is really unstable – there are thorns and tree roots everywhere."

"Gotcha, Syaoran-kun!" Fai grinned, latching onto Kurogane's arm. "C'mon, Kuro-puu! Let's go dig up some firewood!"

"Firewood! Firewood!" Mokona sang gleefully from his perch on Kurogane's head. "Burning, burning, crackle-crackle pop …"

Syaoran chuckled to himself – he could hear Kurogane's bellowed threats even when the trio was out of sight.

He turned to the princess, who smiled at him despite being exhausted. "You should rest, hime," Syaoran told her, dropping his backpack to the ground. "I'll set up here."

She began to protest, but was promptly ignored as Syaoran began to make a set of makeshift beds out of their abandoned cloaks – it was always helpful when the world they arrived in had warm weather.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura called, getting up from the floor and making her way over to him. "Let me h – ouch!"

"Hime!" Syaoran called, turning round to see her on her knees. He sprung to his feet, running to her instinctively. "What happened?"

"N-Nothing," she forced out through gritted teeth as she fell back into a sitting position. "I just t-tripped."

He watched as she fought back tears, her hands clutching at a knee in a familiar motion. "Hime …" Syaoran began weakly, before reaching out and gently prying her hands away. She winced and started to protest, but he hushed her, carefully inspecting the wound with a worried expression on his face.

Sakura sat back and allowed him to wash her knees with water from the nearby spring – it wasn't much, but it was all they had.

It stung like nobody's business – the fall had taken the skin off her knees, and the dirt and thorns hadn't helped. Not to mention that she'd hit her head, and it was starting to throb like crazy.

She managed not to cry while Syaoran was treating her, although she came close. But the truth was, the princess was distracted. Why, _why _did this feel so familiar to her? She hadn't fallen like this before, had she? Not that she could remember.

Then again, her memory wasn't the most reliable of sources at the moment.

When he was satisfied, Syaoran drew back, sitting beside Sakura and sighing. Her eyes were a bit teary, but she seemed okay. Before, it had been acceptable to comfort her … before, when they had been on a name-only basis. But now, he wasn't sure how far he was allowed to go before his behaviour was deemed 'inappropriate'.

"Are you all right, hime?" he asked cautiously, his eyes averted.

Sakura nodded, then realised that he couldn't see her. "Hai. Daijoubu," she insisted. "Um … arigatou."

Silence fell between them, and Syaoran swallowed nervously, picking at the grass. Just as he was about to suggest going to find Fai and Kurogane, Sakura suddenly blurted out,

"You know, if you kiss a cut, it'll make it feel better."

Syaoran peered at her, caught off guard. "N-Nani?"

She shrugged, suddenly self-conscious about what she'd just said. "I – um … gomen. I just … I think I remember someone saying that to me – a long time ago …"

Smiling softly to himself, Syaoran turned to her and, without even being asked, pressed a soft kiss above the graze on her right knee … and then the left.

"Better?" he asked.

Sakura, now flaming red, bobbed her head in a nod. "H-Hai," she stammered, as they once again reverted to silence - albeit a more comfortable one than before.

"Syaoran-kun?"

"Hai?"

"I hit my head, too."


End file.
